Ring Bologna - QVIEW

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ragnar

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Jan 2, 2016
94
160
Wisconsin
Another installment of the "awesome pork sale" sausage-making marathon - this time, ring bologna.

My father-in-law lives to hunt, fish, and... hunt. He had some venison roasts in the freezer, and asked me if we could make something out of them. Absolutely, yes, we can, and we did. None of the recipes we looked at hit the spot quite right, so we took Rytek's as a starting point, and tweaked it a little bit. We made 15 lbs, but the recipe below is for 5 lbs. In order to get a nice, even mixture of seasonings and cure in the meat, I almost always make batches in multiples of 5 lbs.
  • 2.5 lbs fine-ground venison
  • 2.5 lbs 80/20 fine-ground pork
  • 1 tsp Instacure #1 (dissolved in 2-3 ounces water)
  • 2 Tbsp non-iodized table salt
  • 1 cup ice water
  • 2 tsp ground white pepper
  • 1 Tbsp Paprika
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground Nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp Allspice
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 3/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 cup Nonfat Dried Milk Powder

This was stuffed into some 40mm x 18" collagen casings for ring bologna that are already curved. These are STRANGE. It's kind of like stuffing meat into a yellow-clear bicycle tire tube. They're a little thick and pretty rubbery. The casings were prepared by soaking in hot water for 5 or so minutes, and then tied at one end with butcher's twine. 15 lbs made 12 rings, with a little left for a test-fry. My smoker is big enough for a run of 6, so I smoked them in two batches. 

Stuffed and resting to normalize and dry before smoking:


These were smoked with whiskey barrel oak with the following method:
  • Preheat smoker to 130F
  • Hang rings from top rack. Cook at 130F until internal temp 100F. No smoke.
  • Apply smoke for 2.5 hours, dampers 3/4 closed at 150F. (IT at end of smoke was about 135F)
  • Raise temp to 170F and cook until IT 155F.
  • Pull and cool in cold water bath until below 100F
  • Bloom at room temp for 2 hours.
  • Refrigerate

Talk about an amazing color transformation! The pic was even before a full bloom!

Haven't eaten one of these yet, but the test-fry patty was awesome. There was enough pepper in our recipe to give a little bit of heat, and enough garlic and onion to be present, but not PRESENT, FRONT AND CENTER. We're happy with this for a "standard" ring bologna. We'll bump up the garlic and maybe add some mustard seed (whole and/or ground) for a spiced up version. Might look at formulating another version, too, with some other flavors as a third alternative.

My father-in-law helped grind, mix, and stuff this, and was his first ever sausage-making experience. It will NOT be his last. He had a good time, and, come deer season this year, we'll be busy. This was really a proof-of-concept run to show him we can do good things with venison, and to pilot test the recipe ahead of a big production run when he goes all out on the deer population in the fall. Usually, he gets about 100 lbs of venison processed into summer sausage and ring bologna every year. He's talking about pulling all of that from the butcher he usually goes to, and just having me do it. Tall order... but we'll manage. We'll dial in exactly the flavor he's looking for, and give him a bigger variety in smaller quantities.

edited to correct the casing size
 
Last edited:
Very nice.
Dry milk powder, is that something can be bought a grocery store?
Or is that a specialty item needing to be bought at a sausage supply source?
 
That ring bologna looks amazing.   That is going to be my next project, along with Polish sausage.     Did you get your ring bologna casings from Curleys or somewhere else?
 
Last edited:
Very nice.
Dry milk powder, is that something can be bought a grocery store?
Or is that a specialty item needing to be bought at a sausage supply source?
 
Dry milk powder is available in any grocery store. At least where I live.
Yup. What AK1 said... grocery store. Can get it from the big sausage making supply places, too... but this is always available and pretty cheap.

 
That ring bologna looks amazing.   That is going to be my next project, along with Polish sausage.     Did you get your ring bologna casings from Curleys or somewhere else?
Thanks for the kind words.

Funny... Kielbasa is what I'll be formulating after dinner. Great minds, I suppose... 
beercheer.gif


This batch of casings came from The Sausagemaker. I looked at Curley's catalog - not sure if they're the same...
 
Wow. Looks great. Can't wait for a sliced pic.

Points for sure.

Trying to save this on my phone.
 
Thanks I thought it was the available powdered milk but was not sure.
With the price of meats the way it is I sure want to follow recipes exactly. If you know what I mean.
 
Great looking Sausage!
POINTS!!!
Thanks!
Wow. Looks great. Can't wait for a sliced pic.

Points for sure.

Trying to save this on my phone.
Appreciate it!

Wait no longer...


... and if that don't make ya drool...


Too bad I can't upload the fantastic smell! 
Thanks I thought it was the available powdered milk but was not sure.
With the price of meats the way it is I sure want to follow recipes exactly. If you know what I mean.
Definitely.... or at least have them work out well. Good luck! Looking forward to seeing how yours turns out!
 
 
Great looking adventure. Always good to keep Father-in-law on your side.
 
Great job on the sausage!

Love the color!

Awesome sliced pic!

points.gif


Al
 
Awesome post! point B
Thanks a lot, guys!

My wife and I cooked one of these up for dinner last night, and I had leftovers for lunch today. 

We'll be adding a touch of ground mustard and/or whole mustard to the next round. Can't wait for feedback from my father-in-law...
 
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